Listening to the Spirit of God
Pentecost Sunday is my favorite Sunday of the church year. It holds rich meaning for me as the daughter of missionaries to Brazil, South America. While I’m most confident when communicating in English, my heart language is Portuguese.
The imagery of the people gathered at Pentecost hearing the word of the Lord for them in their own language is a lovely picture in my mind. I’m transported to my summers spent as a traveling interpreter for mission teams in Baja California, Mexico.
Inexplicably, when I was asked to translate for the women’s Bible studies, I would get so nervous that I wouldn’t remember a word, and then as the speaker began to unfold the truths God had shared with her, the words tumbling from my mouth in our hearers’ heart language were hardly my own.
It was a true experience of the presence of God’s spirit with me.
Today as I read these words, I’m moved by God’s spirit in a different way; an uncomfortable and challenging way that reminds me that the spirit of God is always moving and always beckoning.
On this day, these words remind me that God has listened to the cries of my neighbors of color this week. The cries of “I can’t breathe” have reached God’s ears and today, I am reminded that God’s spirit does speak comfort to us in our heart languages in times of trial like what we are facing now in our isolation.
God’s spirit also speaks to us when things are not as they should be.
In a world in which my neighbors can’t breathe, God’s spirit is upon me to invite justice where privilege abounds, love where hate looms large, peace where fear is vast.
God’s spirit comes to the church at Pentecost in a glorious demonstration we call the birthday of the church. God’s spirit comes to the church, to us, today as a reminder that God’s kingdom work is always an invitation. Like a burning flame within us, God’s Spirit invites us to speak in the heart language of those most vulnerable among us.
As we receive this spirit, again and again in our lives; as we celebrate its presence with those gathered at Pentecost and its ability to cross dividing lines to make us one, let’s be open to the new experiences of the presence of God with us. Let’s be open to new ways the spirit of God wants to use us.
Thanks be to God, for a spirit that leads, moves, and challenges.
Sara Robb-Scott, Pastor for Senior Adults and Pastoral Care, First Baptist Decatur